Albanese says Dutton injecting machismo into election campaign
Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of alienating mainstream voters by trying to inject machismo into Australian politics, as he warned that Donald Trump's presidency has opened the door for China to exert more influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Albanese gave a wide-ranging interview with the popular The Rest is Politics podcast, hosted by former UK Labour adviser Alastair Campbell and former Tory politician Rory Stewart, in which the prime minister spoke about his childhood, upcoming wedding, favourite musical artists, and views on world affairs.
Albanese recorded the interview on Saturday night, before attending St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday morning for Easter Mass, where he sat in the front row and took communion.
He spoke to Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher about his memories attending the adjoining St Mary's Cathedral College while he was at high school and told him that adrenaline was fuelling him during the election campaign.
'Thirteen days to go, but who is counting? Me,' he said.
Dutton opted for a casual Easter Sunday, as he cooked a breakfast of bacon and egg rolls in Ipswich, Queensland.
The opposition leader greeted supporters and community members and was accompanied by wife Kirilly, their family's spoodle, Ralph, and Carl Mutzelburg, the Liberal National Party candidate for Blair, which covers Ipswich.
'Remember what is important in life, and what is important is family, our friends and our society, our community,' Dutton told supporters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Aussies urged to charge ahead with household batteries
Australia could slash $4 billion a year off power bills by the end of the decade if households embrace solar batteries in larger numbers, a report forecasts. The Climate Council issued the prediction on Tuesday, finding the savings were possible if half of all homes with solar panels installed added batteries by 2030. But progress could also get a bigger boost from allowing more electric vehicles to charge up the national grid, if solar battery prices continued to fall, and if all new households were designed for rooftop solar and battery systems, it found. The report comes amid heightened demand for home batteries after the announcement of a $2.3 billion federal government scheme to subsidise their purchase by 30 per cent from July. The Climate Council report, called Battery Boom, found about 300,000 (eight per cent) of the four million Australian households with solar panels used batteries to store energy. If that figure was lifted to reach two million homes by 2030 - half of those with rooftop solar panels currently installed - household energy bill savings could hit $4 billion a year. Electricity bill savings could rise from $1500 with solar panels to $2300 a year after installing a battery, Climate Council spokesman Greg Bourne said, although further support would be needed to help some families deal with the up-front cost. "Batteries haven't penetrated far enough into those four million (solar) households, but it makes a huge difference when you start picking up the sunshine from midday and time-shifting it to when high cost of electricity comes in," he told AAP. "It will start as word-of-mouth in the neighbourhood and talk of 'my bill's half of what it was' or 'my bills are a quarter of what they were because we put a battery in' and that's part of the education process." A typical household battery is expected to cover its cost within 8.3 years without the upcoming subsidy, the report found, down from 10 years in 2022. The Climate Council report also found big battery storage projects planned for Australia had doubled over the past year to reach 20 gigawatts, and the price of large energy storage had fallen by 20 per cent. On a state-by-state basis, Western Australia led the nation for the most big battery projects with eight installed, Victoria boasted the most community solar batteries, and the Northern Territory had the most homes with solar batteries installed at 15.9 per cent. Battery storage could also get a significant boost from compatible electric vehicles, Mr Bourne said, as more vehicle-to-grid chargers were standardised and sold in Australia. Other recommendations in the report to boost battery storage included adding rooftop solar and storage capacity to the National Construction Code, expanding support for community batteries, and strengthening on-shore battery recycling schemes.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Aussies urged to charge ahead with household batteries
Australia could slash $4 billion a year off power bills by the end of the decade if households embrace solar batteries in larger numbers, a report forecasts. The Climate Council issued the prediction on Tuesday, finding the savings were possible if half of all homes with solar panels installed added batteries by 2030. But progress could also get a bigger boost from allowing more electric vehicles to charge up the national grid, if solar battery prices continued to fall, and if all new households were designed for rooftop solar and battery systems, it found. The report comes amid heightened demand for home batteries after the announcement of a $2.3 billion federal government scheme to subsidise their purchase by 30 per cent from July. The Climate Council report, called Battery Boom, found about 300,000 (eight per cent) of the four million Australian households with solar panels used batteries to store energy. If that figure was lifted to reach two million homes by 2030 - half of those with rooftop solar panels currently installed - household energy bill savings could hit $4 billion a year. Electricity bill savings could rise from $1500 with solar panels to $2300 a year after installing a battery, Climate Council spokesman Greg Bourne said, although further support would be needed to help some families deal with the up-front cost. "Batteries haven't penetrated far enough into those four million (solar) households, but it makes a huge difference when you start picking up the sunshine from midday and time-shifting it to when high cost of electricity comes in," he told AAP. "It will start as word-of-mouth in the neighbourhood and talk of 'my bill's half of what it was' or 'my bills are a quarter of what they were because we put a battery in' and that's part of the education process." A typical household battery is expected to cover its cost within 8.3 years without the upcoming subsidy, the report found, down from 10 years in 2022. The Climate Council report also found big battery storage projects planned for Australia had doubled over the past year to reach 20 gigawatts, and the price of large energy storage had fallen by 20 per cent. On a state-by-state basis, Western Australia led the nation for the most big battery projects with eight installed, Victoria boasted the most community solar batteries, and the Northern Territory had the most homes with solar batteries installed at 15.9 per cent. Battery storage could also get a significant boost from compatible electric vehicles, Mr Bourne said, as more vehicle-to-grid chargers were standardised and sold in Australia. Other recommendations in the report to boost battery storage included adding rooftop solar and storage capacity to the National Construction Code, expanding support for community batteries, and strengthening on-shore battery recycling schemes.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Albanese to lay out political vision for second term
Anthony Albanese is set to lay out his second-term agenda in a key speech, as he prepares for potential talks with Donald Trump. In his first major address since an emphatic election win in May, the prime minister will speak at the National Press Club about his priorities for when parliament resumes in July. After securing an expanded mandate among voters at the election in which Labor increased its parliamentary majority, Mr Albanese will say delivering on promises will be his priority. "Delivering these commitments matters for every Australian, regardless of who they voted for. It matters for our economy, for the jobs, skills, technology, infrastructure and energy we need to grow and thrive in the years ahead," he will say in the speech. "It also matters for our democracy. We are living in a time of significant global uncertainty - and that reaches beyond just economic instability." May's federal poll was the first time since 1966 an incumbent government retained all the seats it held at an election. Mr Albanese will say promises of expanding urgent care clinics, cheaper childcare and an increase in affordable housing will remain central to his government's priorities. "Our government's vision and ambition for Australia's future was never dependent on the size of our majority. But you can only build for that future vision if you build confidence that you can deliver on urgent necessities," he will say. Labor will have a responsibility in its second term to disprove voter cynicism with governments, the prime minister will say. "To recognise that some of this frustration is drawn from people's real experience with government - be it failures of service delivery, or falling through the cracks of a particular system," he will say. "And to counter this, we have to offer the practical and positive alternative." The speech comes days before Mr Albanese flies to Canada for the G7 summit, where a one-on-one meeting with US President Donald Trump is on the cards. Tariffs imposed by Mr Trump on other countries are set to dominate discussions at the international forum, with Australia trying to carve out an exemption to the economic measure. Australia had been slapped with a 10 per cent tariff on all exports to the US, with steel and aluminium products having a 50 per cent tariff. Mr Albanese will say Australia will still be able to play a critical role in global affairs amid the instability. "Our vision is for a society that is a microcosm for the world, where all are respected and valued and our diversity is recognised as a strength," he will say. "Our international relationships in the fastest growing region of the world in human history benefit us, but also provide a platform for us to play a positive a stabilising global role in uncertain times."
